Hiring foreign doctors a worrying proposition, study finds

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The Federal Government's "Strengthening Medicare" scheme to recruit foreign doctors may be weakening Australia's medical standards, according to new research.

A study found the Government was paying recruitment fees of up to $25,000 for the hire of doctors, many of whom did not appear to be subject to reviews of their medical skills. An expert on medical workforce issues, demographer Bob Birrell, concluded that State and Federal Government concerns about doctor shortages had "over-ridden worries within the medical profession about the readiness of overseas-trained doctors to practise in Australia without formal assessment and further training".

"All the medical authorities with whom this issue was discussed agree that the present situation regarding the assessment of OTDs [overseas trained doctors] is unsatisfactory," he said.

All agreed that a formal assessment system should be introduced because many overseas doctors were trained in non-Western medical schools, where the standards of training and their relevance to clinical practice in Australia are "highly variable".

The numbers of these doctors was likely to grow because the Federal Government had liberalised rules governing recruitment and had made no secret about it, stating in advice to candidates that there was "no formal assessment of the level of theoretical and clinical skills expected".

By last June 2400 four-year visas had been issued to foreign doctors.

Most are employed by state governments as hospital doctors in areas of need.

While many did an invaluable job "there is equally a raft of anecdotal accounts which indicate that some OTDs, by virtue of English language deficiencies, gaps in medical knowledge or lack of clinical experience relevant to Australian patient needs and cultural incompatibilities with Australian expectations, do struggle in the Australian setting".